Trust in Advertising (34 page)

There was such confidence and intensity as he spoke that Lexi knew he was focused and ready for this. He was used to getting what he went after. This was who Vincent Drake was, the man he had become over the last ten years. His anger when he didn’t get a client made much more sense to Lexi now because she understood that he took each loss personally. When he put his heart and soul into a project and placed himself out there for these clients and they rejected him, it hurt. How could it not?

“You love your job, don’t you?” Lexi asked.

“I do. I won’t lie; there are days that suck, and there are people who suck that make me want to scream.” They exchanged a glance and both said “Tony”

at the same time. “But to be able to be creative and innovative every day; it’s exhilarating.” The car glided to a stop in front of what appeared to be a recently remodeled three-story, brick warehouse with a door covered in black, wrought iron bars. The only bit of flair was the ornate detail of a letter S in the center of iron bars.

“Sixteen Reservation Drive. This is the place,” Lexi confirmed.

Vincent opened the trunk and carefully removed the boards from the back of the car. “This looks like an interesting part of town.” His eyes scanned the other buildings nearby. Different types of art galleries and design companies littered the street. “Cool architecture.”

Lexi nodded her head in agreement as they walked down the sidewalk to Julian’s door. “I’ve been to some of these galleries. The openings they throw are extravagant. There are also a number of musicians that live down at the end of block so there’s always music playing as you walk around and window shop.”

Her eyes twinkled as she talked. “There’s a shop around the corner that has the most beautiful pieces of blown glass. They’re spectacular.”

“I’ve lived here for years and never knew all of this was down here. I’ll have to stop in that gallery sometime. Elizabeth loves unique pieces.” He rang the bell twice and waited for someone to answer.

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Christina flung open the door, her long, coppery hair rolling over her shoulders in big waves. “Lexi!” She threw her arms around Lexi’s neck and pulled her in the door. “Oh, sorry. Hello, Vincent. I didn’t forget about you.”

“Good afternoon, Christina.” Vincent extended his hand to her, and Christina released her grasp on Lexi and pulled Vincent into a tight hug.

She stepped back and smiled. “Listen, we only have a minute so let me be brief. I adore you guys, but I’m not stupid either, I’ve done my research. Your campaigns are great, financially successful for the clients, and innovative. The people who work with you adore you, and unless my research is mistaken, you have the highest percentage rate of repeat clients on the west coast. I want Julian to go with Hunter, but it’s his call, not mine. So, I’m going to give you a little advice, and if you’re the smart man that I believe you to be, you’l take it to heart.

“First, lose the formal ‘Good afternoon’ thing.” Christina imitated his posture and cadence from a moment ago. “Talk to Julian like you would a friend.

He prefers that to being terribly formal. Don’t kiss his ass; don’t play him. Tell him straight up why you are the group to go with and what you think you can do for him that no one else can.”

Vincent remained silent and listened to Christina’s laundry list. Lexi stood beside him, nodding her head in agreement.

“Last but not least, no matter what he says or does, stick to your guns. Show him you have confidence in your idea and your capabilities.” Christina turned her attention to Lexi. “Can he pull this off?”

Lexi playfully shrugged her shoulders and glanced over at Vincent. Instead of launching into a long-winded explanation as to why he was the man for the job, he winked, and Lexi’s face lit up with a quiet confidence. “Julian doesn’t stand a chance.”

“Perfect!” Christina clapped her hands together and pulled them inside.

“Let me show you around while we wait for Julian.”

The interior of the converted warehouse was spectacular. Honey colored hardwood floors and high ceilings made the space feel enormous. Christina led them through the rooms, giving them a sneak peek at the newest line. Seeing the designs and sketches all over the wall made Lexi smile to herself, remembering the mess Vincent’s office had been the night before.

“Remind you of anything?” Vincent whispered in her ear, his chest pressing lightly against her back.

“Yeah, Julian is as big of a slob as you when he’s working.”

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“Maybe the two of you can bond over your lack of organizational skills.”

Christina added, overhearing their conversation. “Do you know how many times I’ve cleaned this room top to bottom only to have him come back and complain?” She turned to Lexi with a look of exasperation. “Men!”

“I think you two were separated at birth,” Vincent teased.

“Zip it, Vincent,” they said in unison.

He threw up his hands in surrender and wisely kept his mouth shut as Christina linked arms with Lexi and led her into Julian’s office. The walls of his office were lined with hundreds of albums. At first it appeared to be wallpaper, but each cover rested on a clear plexiglass shelf and was covered in plastic. From floor to ceiling, the amazing collection was on display. Lexi pointed to one of the walls and mouthed “He’s going to love our idea,” then turned her attention back to Christina, who was pointing out Julian’s more treasured albums, which were framed and hung along the hallway to the conference room.

As Christina continued the tour, Lexi tried to pay attention to what she said, but she was distracted by Vincent. She felt his eyes on her, watching her every move as they wandered through the apartment, but whenever she looked in his direction, his eyes quickly flicked away. To make his odd behavior more confusing, his demeanor completely changed the moment they stepped into the conference room.

“The two of you can get your things settled in here, and I’ll go see what’s taking His Royal Highness and company so long.”

“Thank you, Christina,” Lexi said as she began rummaging through her bag, pulling out different pieces of the presentation. She glanced over at Vincent when he didn’t say anything and found him standing across the room, his mouth drawn into a tight line. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine,” he said shortly, striding over to the long conference table and getting his laptop hooked up to the projector.

“Wait, what just happened? Are you mad because I monopolized Christina the whole time? I’m sorry. She took my arm and was showing me around. I didn’t want to be rude.”

“You’re fine, Lexi.” He ducked his head to figure out where to plug in the flash drive. When he stood back up, Lexi was right beside him, her eyes starting to brim with tears.

“Would you be more comfortable if I waited in the lobby? I don’t mind. I really shouldn’t be here, anyway. I’m just your assistant.”

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His aloof posture immediately softened. He regularly dealt with snarling competitors, hostile businessmen, angry advertisers, but it appeared that a hint of misery in Lexi’s usually sparkling eyes could bring him to his knees. “Why do I keep making you cry?” He ran his hand roughly through his hair. “I’m sorry. I was being a jerk. I guess I got a little nervous. Please don’t go anywhere. I really do need you here.” He took her hand in his and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

Lexi took a deep breath. Getting so weepy and emotional around him all the time only proved that his opinion meant way more to her than it should. She wanted to do a good job, she wanted him to respect her and her abilities, but every time he shut down like that, Lexi took it personally. If she really wanted to be respected, she needed to stop crying, or Vincent would see her as the girl she had been, not the woman she had become.

To cover for her ridiculous behavior, Lexi tried to be snarky. “Did you get it all out of your system? The being nervous and being an jerk thing? Because next time, I’m kicking you in the shins.”

“Do it, please.” He looked into her eyes and saw the tears had thankfully disappeared. “So are we good?”

“Well,
I’m
good, not sure about you, but you better be. I can hear Julian walking down the hal .” Lexi gave him a shove in the shoulder. “Loosen up, Vince.”

“I hate that name.”

“You let Maddie call you Vince.”

“That’s because she’s cute when she says it.”

Lexi put her hand over her heart and feigned sadness. “And I’m not cute?”

Rather than answer with words, Vincent’s eyes slowly traveled over her, lingering on the gentle curve of her hips and then her lips before returning to her eyes. She nervously fidgeted during his silent appraisal. When she didn’t think she could stand the quiet a second longer, Vincent gave her a slow and sexy smile. “You’re beyond cute.”

Just then the door flew open and Julian strode in, his booming laughter startling Lexi. She let out a tiny squeak and very conspicuously took three large steps away from Vincent. Julian paused and exchanged a quick glance with a grinning Christina.

“We interrupting something?” he asked.

Lexi’s cheeks flooded with color when she saw the knowing grin on Julian’s face. Vincent didn’t miss a beat. He strode over and tapped fists with Julian to say hello.

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“Nope, we were just discussing beautiful women.” He took a quick peek back at Lexi, and then extended his hand to the two men who had followed Julian into the room. “I’m Vincent Drake.”

“Sal Irvin,” the man beside Julian said as he shook Vincent’s extended hand.

“Julian and I’ve been friends since we were kids.”

“And now he’s my business manager. He’s one bossy son of a gun too. This guy here is Peter, my cousin.”

“I got all the good looks in the family.” Peter tipped his head in Lexi’s direction and grinned when she chuckled at his joke.

“Nice to meet both of you. Have you recovered from our game yet? Your ankle healed?” Vincent motioned to Julian’s left foot.

“Um, yeah. I limped around for a day or two, but it’s better now.” He shrugged his large shoulders and leaned against the wall.

“When were you limping? You’ve been fine,” Christina scoffed as she listened in on the last part of the conversation.

“It was sore. I twisted it while we were playing. That’s why I lost.” Christina rolled her eyes at Julian and shook her head. “Did you show Vincent my new toy?” Julian asked.

“No, I figured you’d want to do that yourself. That is, if your ankle is okay to walk on.”

Julian shook his head at Vincent. “Women. I’ll never understand them.” He motioned to the door. “Come on. Let me show you something before we do the presentation, if that’s okay. Then afterwards, maybe we’ll do a little two-on-two game.” The four men walked out, leaving Christina and Lexi giggling at the conference table.

“What’s the toy?” Lexi asked.

“The idiot just put in a basketball court outside, complete with the Sacramento Kings logo at center court. You don’t even want to know how much he had to pay for the right to use it.” Christina flipped through the packet that was sitting on the table, peeking at the information.

“Holy hell. He’s going to love this!” She jumped to her feet, hugging Lexi.

“Come on, Vincent. Sell it, baby.” She held her hands up in a silent prayer.

“He will, don’t worry. He was amazing during the run-throughs. I think he’ll knock Julian’s socks off.”

“Good, he better. If I have to work with that creeper Reid, I’ll never forgive him.” The phone in the corner of the room rang. Christina excused herself and 206

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grabbed the receiver. “Stone designs. Can I help you?” Lexi watched her friend’s face wrinkle up with displeasure. “My name is Christina, and I’m Mr. Stone’s assistant. And
you
are?”

There was a long pause during which Christina’s brows furrowed. “Jade who? Is Mr. Stone expecting your call?”

No, no, no, it can’t be!
Lexi screamed in her head and paled.
What the hell
is that psycho up to now?

“Well, Mr. Stone is about to start a meeting. No, he cannot talk to you first!” Christina said in a clipped tone, her irritation growing. “What about Vincent Drake?”

Oh my God!
In a panic, Lexi began flapping her arms wildly to get Christina’s attention.

“Please hold,” Christina snapped into the phone before pressing her hand over the receiver to talk to Lexi. “This woman is nuts. She’s left three messages this week alone.”

“Jade, the model Jade?”

“According to her, she’s the supermodel Jade, and now she’s throwing Vincent’s name around left and right. You know anything about this?”

Lexi cautiously asked a few questions. “What does she want?”

“To talk to Julian about the new campaign.”

“But you don’t even know what campaign you’re using yet.”

“She claims to be very versatile and can pull off whatever look we need. I’ve ignored her until now. Who is she, and how does Vincent know her?” Christina put her ear to the phone and laughed. “She’s screaming at me to get back on the phone.”

“She’s, um, kinda his girlfriend.”

“Kinda?” Christina asked, her interest piqued.

“Well, she
is
his girlfriend.”

“Oh, and he wants her to be in the campaign?” Christina eyed Lexi suspiciously.

“God, no! I mean, we didn’t talk about it, but he isn’t designing this ad so Jade can star in it if that’s what you’re wondering.”

“Good, because that wouldn’t fly.” Christina put her ear back to the phone and said in a professional, but patronizing tone, “I’ll be right with you, honey.”

Christina snickered when Jade began squawking again.

“What do we do now?” Christina asked.

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Lexi thought about it, and no matter what, this wasn’t going to end well.

Either Jade would talk to Julian and blow the presentation, or someone would have to tell Jade to take a hike and deal with the fallout. Given the people present in the room, Lexi was the only one for the job.